Battle of Yakalba
The Battle of Yakalba was a conflict at the very beginning of the First Norzic-Imperial War. On New Year's Day ERA 10-24, Marine Forces landed on the North Zician controlled beaches of Yakalba in South Zicia. Over the next few weeks, there would be several intense battles for control over the town of Yakalba City, and the area and beaches surrounding it. On the Imperial Side, Marines from the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions were tasked with this mission. These 20,000 Men and Women would face off against around 12,000 North Zician Regulars and 14,000 Troops from the Militia and Reserve Armies. Operation Composure Landings, 1st January ERA 10-24 At Night on New Years Day, Imperial assault ships began to approach the South Zician coast near Yakalba City, in sector Oak Red. The first troops ashore, mostly from the 9th Gateshead Battalion, A Company, arrived on the beaches in pitch darkness. Engineers began to dismantle Norzic barbed wire and tank trap emplacements under torchlight. It became apparent that the North Zicians guarding the beaches were not aware of the Imperial presence, despite other Imperial assaults taking place along the coast earlier in the day. As the engineers worked, Riflemen moved up to the cliffs. In the Bunkers above, they found the concrete structures and trenches abandoned, with evidence that the North Zician occupiers had withdrawn into the countryside. A Company used this opportunity to land most of its troops without conflict. However, there was a brief firefight between an Imperial Rifle Section when they stumbled upon a similarly sized Norzic recon force. The Imperials retreated to their positions, and the Norzic Teams called in reinforcements. Yakalba Cliffs, 2nd January At Daybreak, the North Zician's launched their attack on the landed marines. The Norzic Infantry, support by Mortars, advanced towards the Beaches. However, they came under heavy fire from the Imperial Rifleman and Machine Gun Teams, who had occupied the trenches that the North Zicians had abandoned. The attack was routed, and the Marines then held their positions as further troops were landed. Assault Parties, comprised of both Marines and Paratrooper Units, began to proceed through the trench network towards the enemy base. They were able to hit the retreating North Zicians in the flank, reducing their numbers further, but encountered fierce resistance near a farm north of the beaches. In addition, these Assault Sections were vulnerable to sniper attacks as they advanced through open ground, and many were killed this way. Meanwhile on the beach, engineering teams came under attack by mortars and hidden marksman as they worked to get more troops ashore. There were reports of soldiers coming off the Assault Boats onto crowded beaches and being immediately shot by snipers; this was a constant threat during the initial stages of the landings. After a series of intense firefights, the Assaulters, supported by a single landed Infantry Fighting Vehicle, managed to eliminate the enemy positions at the farm, securing the beachhead. Rail Yard, 3-4th January The Marines pushed inland towards the city of Yakalba, where they engaged a company sized force of North Zician Regulars near a major railyard. The Marines attacked during the night of the 3rd and into the late afternoon on the 4th. A heavy rainstorm that night further effected fighting conditions, but casualties on the Marines' side remained light. On the 5th, the Norzics fell back under the pressure of the Marines. Farmhouse Headquarters, 5th January The Norzic HQ for the Militia Forces in Yakalba was identified by Imperial Recon to be in a Farmhouse roughly 20 miles inland from the beachhead. A Marine Paratrooper unit was tasked with destroying it, and on the 5th January, were para-dropped into the area. They managed to secure vital roadways while taking only light casualties, as the mostly untrained reserve forces of the North Zican Militia withdrew back towards the HQ to stage a defense. Supported by a Marine Ground Forces Advanced Guard, the Paratroopers were able to bring down the Headquarters. Hamlet 1329, 6th January The Marines ran into the back of a retreating Battalion on the 6th January near a small collection of houses and farms known as Hamlet 1329. There they engaged in a heavy firefight across open ground. A special forces team operating in the area was also caught in the crossfire. The Norzic forces were eventually destroyed at Dusk. Second Wave, 10th-11th January After Hamlet 1329, the landed Marine forces were slowed greatly as the previously unorganized Norzic Forces began to form a solid defense on the outskirts of the city. In an attempt to regain momentum, Imperial forces attempted a second landing at beaches much closer to the town. These beaches proved to be much more heavily defended than those encountered on the landing on New Years Day. Early morning on the 10th January, a naval bombardment from ships stationed offshore was launched, targeting visible bunkers and other possible strong points along the coast. Several minutes after the bombardment ceased, elements of the 1st and 3rd Marine Division stormed the beaches in landing craft and amphibious armored vehicles. They encountered fierce resistance from machine gun, mortar and rocket artillery fire, and could not advance even with the support of smokescreens. As more and more troops arrived, a human traffic jam formed on the crowded beaches, with valuable space being taken up by vehicle and boat wrecks, as well as barbed wire and other beach defenses. It was only after troops from the 9th North Marine Battalion, A Company, opened a small gap in the enemy defenses that allowed Imperial Soldiers to leave the beach. The Beaches were mostly cleared by noon, as more and more cracks in the North Zican defenses began to be exploited by the attackers. In the afternoon, division headquarters was set up in a car park close to the beach while engineers worked to clear obstacles to allow additional troops to come ashore. However, the coast was under constant bombardment by Norzic artillery. Marine Infantry began to move into an industrial area nearby to silence the enemy gun batteries. Although most of the buildings were severely damaged by the initial naval strike, MG, AT and Sniper Teams were able to establish several strong-points to cut off any enemy counterattack. The Imperials found the guns at nightfall, defended by North Zician Regular Infantry, and engaged them for an hour before they withdrew due to loss of visibility in the darkness. The artillery continued to barrage the landing zones through the night, preventing more troops from arriving. There were sporadic firefights during the night, but a major breakout of North Zician troops was prevented. At one point, a Norzic armored patrol fired upon the Imperial Divisional Command Post before being driven back. At dawn, a North Zician counterattack was launched to recapture the industrial site from the Marines, but was defeated. Later that morning, Imperial Marine Infantry began to assault the artillery positions, but came under heavy fire from entrenched mortars and machine-guns and were driven back. Armoured vehicles arrived at 11:00 a.m to assist in the assault. These armoured squads, consisting mostly of lightly-armoured T360 and T3691/A IFV's, suffered greatly at the hands of the North Zician Anti-Tank Guns that had been withdrawn from the beach defenses and set up around the artillery positions. Despite mounting casualties, Marines were able to break through and eliminate the enemy forces. Hillside, Yakalba Outskirts, 14th-23rd January On the 13th January, the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions began to approach the city of Yakalba from the South-East. During the night on the 13th, the Imperials conducted recon operations across the River Qiunghe, around 20 miles from the centre of the city, and found a strongly reinforce Norzic defensive line not far from the opposite bank. The Next day, both Imperial divisions launched their attack on the North Zician line, with elements of the 1st Marines attacking in the south, and the 3rd Division attacking from the north. Despite sporadic mortar fire, they crossed the river without event, with the 1st Marines securing a small town. There, civilians informed them of a possible flanking route behind enemy lines. Meanwhile, the 3rd Division ran into heavy contact when approaching the hills to the east. The 1st Marines organised a mechanized assault on the enemy front line on the night of the 14th of January while the rest of the unit reinforced their positions in the town. The mission found that the primary route of attack was heavily defended. The next day, the Marines launched an attack on the flanking road pointed out by the local civilians. While progress was initially good, the mechanized assault suddenly ran into heavy contact from hidden infantry units, machine guns and rocket launcher squads. Despite fighting back, the Marines lost a significant portion of their attacking force, as well as their armour, and had to retreat. At the same time, 3rd Division managed to secure an airfield to the north-east, but were routed by a mass of attacking Norzic infantry and armour. The 1st Marines launched a similar-sized attack on the 15th, along a different route. However, as the convoy of IFV's joined the main road out of the Marine-held town on the river, a hidden AT gun destroyed the lead vehicle, blocking in the rest of the convoy. The Marine Infantry dismounted the vehicles and began to fight back against the hidden threat, but found themselves surrounded by enemy armoured vehicles. Imperial soldiers were cut down by Heavy Machine Gun fire as they attacked and subsequently retreated across the open fields. Concurrently, the IFV's trapped by the vehicle wreck began to exit the road in a retreat, but turned the wrong way, and instead headed towards the enemy front lines. Taking them by surprise, the Fighting Vehicles inflicted heavy enemy casualties, but found themselves, again, trapped, by outnumbering enemy forces. Air support was called in, but to no avail - Norzic air defenses shot any attacking aircraft out of the sky. Imperial Infantry attempted to relieve them, but were beaten back by withering mortar fire. Rescue attempts continued through the night and into the morning on the 16th, but the Imperial's were outgunned by the North Zician Heavy Armour. By noon on the 16th, the Imperial IFV cannon fire in the distance had been completely silenced. The 3rd Marines had payed a similarly heavy price, but could not puncture the North Zican lines; the airfield remained firmly in their control, and fierce battles on the hills surrounding the city resulted in the summit's changing hands every few hours or so. Desperately needing to be relieved, they contributed what little support they had left to making a flanking attack in the South with the 1st Division. Imperial Main Battle Tanks attacked along the enemy line on the 17th, aiming to destroy Norzic Tank and AT Forces so the more lightly armoured IFV's could execute the flank. This operation lasted three days, with Tank Formations destroying what they could before having to withdraw for refueling, rearmament and repair. Losses were still relatively high. On the 19th and 20th, the town on the river held by the 1st Marine Division, which was being used as a staging area for the MBT's, came under attack by infantry and armour from the North Zician Regular Army. The attacks were halted, but the town was significantly damaged in the fighting. It was also here that a sniper from the 9th Battalion, 1st Marines posthumously earned the Titanium Cross by achieving 25 kills over two days. After more than a week of intense fighting, on the 23rd of January, Imperial armour succeeded in penetrating the enemy lines, encircling and destroying the North Zicians. It was on the same day that Commander Duke Hillsborough, leader of the I Marine Corps (including the 1st-10th Marine Division), stated that the taking of the city of Yakalba would "be a series of river crossings". This reduced his popularity with the troops, who had payed a heavy toll just to get near the city, and whose experienced lead them to believe the taking of the city would be just as difficult. Category:Premier Timeline